Doctor? I Think the Universe Wants Me Dead
by Kaleigh T
Summary: And on that day, the Doctor learned that the laws of the universe could be bent and even broken, but not without repercussions. For the first time in his life, he lost someone he never had a hope of saving.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I promise it's not as bad as the summary sounds, and I'm trying not to have my OC go down Mary Sue lane. Review! Please! Constructive criticism is my lifeblood.

Dimension travel was difficult. Sort of like wandering through an endless, dark room that's larger than space itself and smaller than an atom at the same time. There's no way to know where she'd end up- she'd experienced some strange realities before- but nothing she had ever truly liked. The rules were a problem, too- in some realities, she learned about the whole of another's life- only to step into a reality with them and be unable to help. Messing with a universe's natural course of events- strictly forbidden. Made things a tad boring, unfortunately. She knew everything, had seen everything, all the patterns a thousand times. When she stepped through the curtain this time, though, felt herself coming into existence, something was different.

The ground rushed up to meet her, hard asphalt tearing into her skin. She groaned, her head pounding and her heart racing- everything was too bright, too loud. There was a stranger's hand on her shoulder, turning her over- the sun on her skin burned. Frantic voices echoed in her ears, too loud, scared and confused, the voices of strangers ringing through her mind.

"Something's wrong- hey, are you alright? Someone call 911- there's a hospital nearby- it's okay, you'll be okay-"

She clutched her stomach, the cells reconstructing, building up layers and layers of skin and bone and muscle. It might've been seconds, minutes, hours of scorching pain until she felt a cool surface underneath her- straps buckling, holding her down. A needle sunk into her skin, and mere moments later she was unconscious.

When she woke up, everything was bright. A cot, with white sheets, surrounded by a white curtain.

"Where am I?"

"Royal Hope Hospital," and older gentleman in white responded, turning to a group of what looked like medical students standing around her cot.

"This is Charlene Bennett," the older doctor announced. "Admitted this morning from ER, experienced a sudden loss of balance followed by convulsions and muscle contractions. Ideas?"

A timid young man raised his hand. She couldn't make out much, her eyesight was still in the works and he looked like a big tan-and-white blur.

"Yes, Oliver?"

"Uh, possibly a stroke? So, check the heart and look for head trauma?"

"Alright, anything else? Think simpler."

Charlie saw one of the blurs moving, raising a hand (at least she thought it was a hand.)

"It could have been an abnormally high fever," the blur said in a decidedly female voice, adjusting her clipboard.

"As a matter of fact, the cause was a high fever. She was running 107 degrees Fahrenheit when she was admitted. Scanned for head trauma, nothing, heartbeat is normal. Standard procedure is...?"

Her eyesight was getting better, and this time she could make out a figure raising their hand. "Keep an eye on her temperature and overall health for two to three days, Mr. Stoker."

"Correct."

With that, group of students shuffled off over to the man in the cot next to her. Mr. Stoker waited for a moment, and rummaged around in his pocket before pulling out a faded wallet and flipping it open.

"I believe this is your ID- it was in your pocket."

"Thank you," she said, as he dropped it onto the bedside table and offered her a tight-lipped smile, heading over to the group of students.

The man in the cot glanced at the wallet- the only thing inside was a single piece of paper.

It was blank.

"Now then, Mr. Smith. How are you feeling this morning?" Mr Stoker asked, and the man smiled cheerfully, turning back to the group with a shrug.

"Aw, y'know, not so bad," he rambled, "Still a bit, well, blah."

Mr. Stoker offered him the same bland smile. "Mr. Smith was admitted yesterday with severe abdominal pains. Jones," he motioned to the young woman standing by him, "Why don't you see what you can find? Amaze me."

She nodded and tugged the stethoscope off of her neck. "That wasn't very clever, running around outside, was it?"

"Sorry?"

"On Chancellor Street, this morning? You came up to me and took your tie off."

Mr. Smith looked at her oddly. "Really? What did I do that for?"

"I don't know, you just did," the student replied.

"Not me! I was here in bed, ask the nurses."

Across the room, a disoriented Charlie rubbed her eyes, trying to focus on the man in the cot. Wildly messy brown hair, arched eyebrows- somehow, he seemed so very familiar. In fact, the whole conversation stirred a feeling much like deja vu in the pit of her stomach. Her ears were ringing again, drowning out the conversation, but she still couldn't shake the feeling.

Her eyesight cleared enough for her to see Mr. Stoker pick up the metal clipboard, a jolt of static electricity shocking his hand.

"That happened to me this morning," Miss Jones commented with a frown.

"I had the same thing on the door handle."

"And me, in the lift."

Mr. Stoker grabbed the clipboard off of the bed and brushed off the students' concerns.

"Well, that's only to be expected; there's a thunderstorm moving in, and lightning is a form of static electricity, as proven by...? Anyone?"

"Benjamin Franklin," Mr. Smith answered.

"Correct."

"My mate Ben - that was a day and a half- I got rope burns off that kite, and then I got soaked."

"Quite," Mr. Stoker said, in that condescending manner people use when talking to complete morons.

"And then I got electrocuted," He finished, with a funny sort of smile.

"Moving on..." Mr. Stoker led the group away from the man's bedside, murmuring quietly to the staff member next to him, "I think perhaps a visit from Psychiatric."

Charlie frowned, trying to pinpoint where she'd heard this exact conversation before.

Oh.

"Doctor Who," She murmured. "Of all the universes in existence, I get stuck in Doctor Who."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry about the short chapters ;-; I need to work on adding more description and breaking up the big ol' blocks of dialogue. Whoops. Review, yadda yadda, all that jazz. Enjoy.

The skies were dreary and gray- occasionally a small, forked, flickering tongue of lightning would crackle across the sky, followed by a crash of thunder. There was no rain, yet, only angry clouds and a tense, stagnant buzz in the air, like everything was dangling precariously on the cusp of an earthquake or a tornado or a hurricane. Ominous, that was the word. And certainly more interesting than the drab hospital room.

"So, what's an ordinary person doing with a piece of psychic paper, hmm?" The Doctor asked nonchalantly, after the nurses had moved out of earshot. He sat up in the cot, staring at the girl in the other bed with a tiny frown and a crease between his eyebrows. Somehow, he looked different when he was real, than when he was an old television show. It was off-putting, to say the least.

"Using it to check into hospitals, apparently," She joked, trying to sit up as well, fighting the horrible dizziness that made her world blacken at the edges, gripping the rail on the side of her bed for support. "What's a time traveler doing in a hospital bed?"

"Plasma coils around the perimeter. Thought I'd check it out, y'know. So, tell me- what're they for?"

Charlie shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

He stared at her, unblinking, looking like he was in some sort of trance, when he suddenly spoke (and nearly gave Charlie a heart attack)."Alright!"

The Doctor threw the sheets off and grabbed the fuzzy blue dressing gown, pulling one arm through the sleeve as he talked. "Not sure I believe you yet, but whatever the plasma coils are charging for, it's about to happen. Oh, I love a good mystery."

She watched from her cot as he tugged on the other sleeve and tied the sash around his waist, walking towards the door."Where are you going?"

"We're going looking for whatever set up the plasma coils." A crack of thunder shook the building as rain started pouring down. "Before something bad happens." He added, starting around the bend.

"We're?"

"Oh, yes. How am I supposed to know you didn't do it? You're coming with me. Get up, come on!"

Charlie rolled her eyes, pushing off the sheets and standing up. "Woah, head rush," She grumbled, following the Doctor down the hallway.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" She asked, as he tried to remain unnoticed and look in each room that he passed.

"No idea."

"Alright... what's the plan?"

"Just... I don't know, peek in rooms and look for stuff that seems alien-ish."

They approached a window at the end of a hallway- a sign on the wall read "The Lounge". Charlie glanced in the room discreetly- the girl from earlier, Jones, Martha Jones, was talking gossip to someone on her cell phone. Nothing remotely alien.

The Doctor stood silently, staring out the window by the staircase. _The rain should be going up right about now,_ Charlie realized. And it was.

"You might want to hold on to something," the Doctor commented idly. She nodded, grabbing a railing as the sky outside lit up a bright blue-white, and the whole building began to shake. Shrill screams and the sound of glass breaking echoed throughout the building. And then, as quick as it started, it stopped.

"Oh, look," The Doctor said, with a wide smile, despite the fact that the whole building was no longer on Earth, "We're on the moon."

And indeed they were: outside the landscape was gray and lifeless, full of dips and craters and potholes. In the distance, the Earth shone like a beacon.

"We're on the moon in dressing gowns," Charlie added with a laugh.

"Yes. Yes, we are. Actually, might want to fix that, can't run in a dressing gown. I'm going to go change into something. Don't," he pointed an accusatory finger at Charlie, "Go anywhere."

"I'm going to go get the clothes I had on when I came here," she said with a frown. "I can't exactly run in a hospital gown either, you know."

* * *

><p>"Alright, everyone, back to bed, we've got an emergency, but we'll sort it out," Martha said firmly, glancing over the patients and making sure everyone was accounted for.<p>

"Got back right in time," The Doctor muttered to Charlie out of the corner of his mouth, grabbing a folded pile of clothes off the bedside table. A blue suit.

"You can run better in a suit than a dressing gown?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well... no, but I like suits better. I'm allowed to like suits." he retorted defensively, swishing the curtain shut around his bed, as she did the same.

"It's real. It's really real!" Martha said, amazed, her voice carrying past the curtain as Charlie tried to get the other foot through her pants leg without tripping.

"Don't!" The other doctor, who frankly, was not nearly as memorable as Martha Jones, gasped. "You'll let out all the air!"

_Oh yes, don't open the window that isn't airtight to begin with,_ Charlie thought to herself, pulling her t-shirt over her head. It was kind of annoying, knowing exactly what was going to happen.

"They're not exactly airtight," Martha commented, trying to reason with the woman who clearly wasn't in a state of mind to be logical,"If the air was going to get sucked out, it would've happened already, but it didn't! So how come?"

At that moment, the Doctor pushed the baby-blue papery curtain open with a very dramatic _swoosh._ "Very good point. Brilliant, in fact. What was your name?"

Charlie, in the meantime, tried to push her curtain open, but it got stuck halfway and wouldn't budge. "Oops."

"Martha."

"And it was... Jones, wasn't it?"

Martha nodded.

"Well then, Martha Jones, the question is, how are we still breathing?" The Doctor asked, stepping forward and peering out the window.

"What are you looking for?" Charlie called from the back of the room, where she was tugging on a bulky denim jacket.

"You tell me." The Doctor spun around to face her with a frown.

"I don't know!" She grumbled. "For the millionth time, it wasn't me!"

"Say you're telling the truth. Alright, but if it wasn't you, then... Who was it?"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Wow, I'm on fire: 3 chapters in as many days! They're shorter chapters, but yknow. Anyhow. Constructive criticism, reviews, all appreciated. Enjoy.

"Martha, what have we got? Is there a balcony on this floor, or a veranda, or...?" The Doctor asked, already in full problem-solving mode.

"By the patients' lounge, yeah." Martha answered. The Doctor turned to her with a smile.

"Fancy going out?"

"Okay."

"We might die."

"We might not."

Satisfied with her answer, the Doctor flashed a grin, starting for the door. "Good. Come on. Not her, she'd hold us up."

"Wait- me?" Charlie asked from the back of the room, running to catch up with him.

"No, not you," he replied with a frown.

"So I don't have to follow you?" She said, almost too brightly, as she caught up to him.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand, tugging her along.

* * *

><p>Martha Jones was standing on the moon.<p>

Well, not really. She was standing on a veranda on the moon, but who could say they've ever done that? Everything was still, silent- she could see the Earth in the distance, make out the continents etched into the surface. It all looked so tiny. She took a deep, shuddering breath and glanced towards the two hospital patients- Mr. Smith and the young woman, Charlene Bennett.

"We've got air. How does that work?" She asked.

The Doctor was staring out at the unmoving landscape, looking for something. He really was a confusing person- first with the anecdote about Benjamin Franklin earlier that morning, and how he could be in the middle of absolute chaos and still be perfectly calm.

"Just be glad it does," He said, still staring out at nothing in particular. If he hadn't answered her question, Martha would've thought he didn't even know she was there. Silently, she stared back out at the surface of the moon.

It really was magnificent in it's own right- full of pits and towering peaks of crooked rock that threw deep, jagged shadows over the ground. Idly, she wished she had a camera.

"I've got a party tonight," She said, her voice sounding shallow and small to her own ears. "It's my brother's twenty first. My mother's going to be really, really..."

"You okay?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah."

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

"Really puts things in perspective, doesn't it?" The woman, Charlene, said from the corner of the veranda. "Makes all the normal, day to day things seem... insignificant. Makes them seem like nothing."

"Yeah... it... yeah," Martha said faintly. It was true- from here, looking down at the earth, her brother's tiny party in one meaningless club really seemed smaller than ever. Boring. Pointless. Kind of sad.

"I know how it feels," Charlene said softly.

"Want to go back in?" The Doctor asked.

"No way." Martha shook her head and smiled. "I mean, we could die any minute, but all the same, it's beautiful."

"Do you think?"

"How many people want to go to the moon? And here we are," she said, amazed. There was a faint sliver of doubt in the back of her mind, though. Here they were, on the moon, and Mr. Smith and Charlene didn't look the least bit shocked, or awed, or even a little scared. Like this was an average day for them.

"Standing in the Earthlight," The Doctor murmured.

"What do you think happened?"

"Oh, I'll tell you what he thinks happened," Charlene snapped waspishly, folding her arms and glaring at the Doctor.

He shot her a warning look before turning back to Martha. "What do you think?"

"Extraterrestrial. It's got to be," She said, I don't know, a few years ago that would have sounded mad, but these days? That spaceship flying into Big Ben, Christmas, those Cybermen things." She sighed. "I had a cousin. Adeola. She worked at Canary Wharf. She never came home."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah."

"I was there, in the battle. It was..." He glanced back out at the surface of the moon with a sigh, leaning on the railing.

"I promise you, Mr. Smith, Miss Bennett, we will find a way out," Martha said. "If we can travel to the moon, then we can travel back. There's got to be a way."

"It's not Smith. That's not my real name," He said, walking over to the side of the veranda and leaning over to look beneath it.

"Who are you, then?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"And, ah, it's not Bennett, either," Charlene said sheepishly.

Martha fought back a smile and tried to keep her tone at least partially serious. She never realized how difficult it was to keep a straight face when two adults were masquerading around as secret agents, or something along those lines. "So what are you, the secret agent duo?"

"Well, uh, no," Charlene said awkwardly, "I just don't like being called "Miss Bennett."

"Alright, so, Charlene."

"Charlie."

"Alright, moving on!" The Doctor said, clapping his hands twice to get their attention. "Let's have a look. There must be some sort of..." He picked up a piece of rubble and hurled it into the open air. A few metres out, it hit something, a blue ripple of light spreading across the seemingly empty air. "Forcefield keeping the air in," he finished.

"But if that's like a bubble sealing us in," Martha began, a tiny crease in her brow as she thought, "That means this is the only air we've got. What happens when it runs out?"

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she already knew the answer.

"How many people in this hospital?" The Doctor asked.

"I don't know. A thousand?"

"One thousand people... suffocating."

"Why would anyone do that?" She asked, horrified. Things were starting to feel a little surreal, now- she'd heard about all the hostile extraterrestrial activity, but to be caught in the middle of it?

"Head's up! Ask them yourself." The Doctor said, glancing up as a fleet of giant, cylindrical spaceships flew over the top of the hospital, touching down a few hundred meters away.

"Aliens. That's aliens. Real, proper aliens," Martha mumbled, as columns of figures in gleaming black spacesuits begain a rhythmic march towards them.

"Judoon." The Doctor murmured.

* * *

><p>"What is it then, Doctor Smith?" Martha asked, as they hurried down the stairs towards the bottom floor.<p>

"Just the Doctor."

"How do you mean, just the Doctor?"

"Just... the Doctor."

"What, people call you the Doctor?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm not. As far as I'm concerned, you've got to earn that title," She said with a funny sort of smile.  
>The Doctor glanced at her,. "Well, I'd better make a start, then," He said, grabbing her's and Charlie's hands and pulling them down behind a potted plant.<p>

"You'd think you'd have better things to talk about than what he wants to be called," Charlie grumbled in hushed tones, scooting around to get a good look at what was going on. Judoon, the Doctor had said. _Super-duper space police. Fantastic,_ She thought dryly. _Hunting for anything that's not from Earth. Wonder what I'd be classified as, seeing as I'm not even from this universe._

Down below, the Judoon marched among the patients and doctors, starting their catalog.

"Oh look," The Doctor whispered, pointing to a little sovenir booth. "You've got a little shop. I like a little shop." He smiled.

Charlie sighed, rolling her eyes. For some reason she didn't feel the need to make another cutting comment. Frankly, there were more important things to be worried about. Like, how to stay hidden from the Judoon.

"Never mind that," Martha whispered back, nudging him with her elbow. "What are the Judoon?"

"Super-duper space police," Charlie muttered quietly. "Really thick super-duper space police."

"More like interplanitary thugs," The Doctor amended.

"Why are they here?"

He turned to Charlie with a frown. "Because they're looking for her."

"Are not," She protested.

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Then why are you hiding behind a plant?"

"Because I was following you!"

"Yes, and now you're going to stop following me and go turn yourself in!"

"Alright, alright," Martha said cautiously. "Why don't we all just calm down, yeah? Innocent until proven guilty, right?"

Charlie shot a glare at the Doctor and folded her arms. "Yeah."

"So, is anyone going to tell me why they," She pointed at the alien troops below, "Brought us to the moon?"

The Doctor stopped glaring at Charlie for a moment. "Neutral territory. According to galactic law, they've got no jurisdiction over the Earth, and they isolated it. That rain, lightning? That was them, using an H2O scoop," he explained.

"What are you on about, galactic law? Where'd you get that from? If they're police, are we under arrest? Are we trespassing on the moon or something?" Martha fired off one question after another, and the Doctor smiled faintly.

"No, but I like that. Good thinking. No, I wish it were that simple. They're making a catalogue. That means they're after something non human," He glared pointedly at Charlie, "which is very bad news for me."  
>"Why?" Martha asked, as realization hit her. "Oh, you're kidding me. Don't be ridiculous."<p>

The Doctor looked her in the eye.

"I don't think that's his ridiculous face," Charlie said unhelpfully. "He's being serious."

"Stop looking at me like that," Martha frowned. "But if you're an alien," She said, rolling her eyes, "How do we know the things down there aren't looking for you?"

"Good point," Charlie nodded. Of course, she knew the Doctor was innocent from what she remembered from the old TV show, but she couldn't exactly tell him that. The whole dimension-travel business needed to be kept under wraps for as long as possible, she decided. Which meant steering clear of the Judoon- they'd have the technology available in their scanners to classify her as an ultraterrestrial.

"Oh... fine," The Doctor said, exasperated. "I trust you, you trust me, and we all head to the computers so we can see what they're looking for. Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Whee, another chapter! They're slowly but surely getting longer, and I'm getting better at dispersing the dialogue. I also forgot to mention that I don't own Doctor Who, but I think that's a given. As always, please review, I love me some constructive criticism. Here's chapter 3!

* * *

><p>"Computers, computers- Martha, where's a computer?" The Doctor asked, taking the stairs two at a time.<p>

"There's at least one office on every floor- hey, wait for me!" She called up to him as he disappeared around the corner.

"He's not the waiting type," Charlie said, shooting Martha an apologetic look as she started up the stairs.

"You know him?"

"Yes. No, I mean- sort of. It's complicated.

"Oh yeah, that helps," She said sarcastically, darting around the corner as the Judoon started up the stairs.

* * *

><p>The Doctor slipped into the office, not bothering to look for surveillance cameras- frankly, there were more important things to be worried about at the moment.<p>

He glanced around the room- health posters, a bit of a mess on the floor, a copier/scanner... thing. There was a computer on the desk, and he pulled out his sonic screwdriver, getting past the passwords easily, trying to scan all the records- for some reason, everything was coming up blank.

"They've reached third floor," Martha said as she stumbled through the door, breathless. "What's that thing?" She asked, pointing at the sonic screwdriver in his hand.

"Sonic screwdriver," He answered, not looking up from the computer. Something wasn't right, if he could just figure out _why_ he couldn't access the records-

"Well, if you're not going to answer me properly."

"No, really, it is," He stopped for a moment and held it up. "It's a screwdriver, and it's sonic. Look."

"What else have you got, a laser spanner?" She asked.

"I did, but it was stolen by Emily Pankhurst, cheeky woman," he muttered, turning back to the computer- the records were still coming up blank, and he was starting to get annoyed. "What's wrong with this computer?!" He smacked the monitor just as Charlie came skidding around the corner.

"They're almost here- You really shouldn't go around beating up other people's things, you know," She said, sticking her head back out the door and keeping an eye on the Judoon as they advanced.

"The Judoon must have locked it down," He mumbled.

"Judoon upon the moon," Charlie said with a grin.

"Judoon _platoon_ upon the moon," the Doctor retorted with the beginnings of a smile that disappeared after a few seconds. "Because I was just travelling past. I swear," he muttered, "I was just wandering. I wasn't looking for trouble, honestly, I wasn't, but I noticed these plasma coils around the hospital, and that lightning, that's a plasma coil. Been building up for two days now, so I checked in. I thought something was going on inside. It turns out the plasma coils were the Judoon up above."

He started working on the computer again- if he could just get to the hard-drive, maybe, just maybe... There had to be something.

"But what were they looking for?"

"Something that looks human, but isn't," He shot a meaningful glare at Charlie, to which she rolled her eyes.

"Like you, apparently."

"Like me. But not me," he said offhandedly, scanning through the patients' records- blank, blank, blank, all blank. Fantastic. Someone wiped the records. If a human did it, he could easily reverse it, but if it had been the Judoon... there might not be enough time.

"Haven't they got a photo?" Martha asked.

"Well, might be a shape-changer," He shrugged. How should he know what type of alien criminal decided to take a vacation on Earth? For all he knew, it could very well be himself. He couldn't quite remember which time period he was in when he accidentally blew up a chunk of Numenrica 4. No one was hurt, thankfully, but there was still a bounty on his head, and there was a possibility (a small one, but a possibility nonetheless) the Judoon were after him because of it.

"Whatever it is, can't you just leave the Judoon to find it?"

"If they declare the hospital guilty of harbouring a fugitive, they'll sentence it to execution," he mumbled,

"All of us?"

"Oh yes. If I can find this thing first." The screen went black, before changing over to a screen full of symbols, that translated to something similar to the "Crime Scene: Do Not Cross" banners that were used on Earth. He smacked the monitor again, and scowled. "Oh! You see, they're thick! Judoon are thick! They are completely thick! They wiped the records. Oh, that's clever."

"What are we looking for?" Martha asked. Seemed like all she could do was ask questions. At least she was asking questions, and not sobbing or hyperventilating or just generally being unhelpful.

"I don't know. Say, any patient admitted in the past week with unusual symptoms. Maybe there's a back-up," he said, grabbing the monitor and flicking on his sonic again.

"Just keep working. I'll go ask Mister Stoker. He might know." Martha ducked out of the room and started running down the hallway towards his office.

"Come on, come on," The Doctor muttered to himself. "Where's the backup- aha! Gotcha!"

"Hey," Charlie whispered from the door, "Martha's coming back."

"Of course she is."

"She looks terrified."

"Alright," He said, rolling his eyes and dropping the monitor.

"I found her!" Martha yelled as she crashed into Charlie, sending them both stumbling back.

"For the millionth time, it's not me!" Charlie snapped.

"No, not you," She said breathlessly, pointing behind her as a figure clad in leather wearing some sort of black helmet burst through the door. "That!"

The Doctor stood just out of the doorway, looking down the hall at the thing. Probably a slab. Mentally, he kicked himself for not noticing it earlier, and shoved Martha and Charlie down the hallway towards the stairs.

"Run!"

* * *

><p>The Doctor said "run".<p>

Charlie wasn't necessarily a fan of the show when she'd stumbled upon it in one dimension; but she'd seen enough of it to know that when someone says "run" and you're with the Doctor, you run.

So she did.

Down the hallway, skidding around the corner, she ran. Past all the doctors and nurses and patients, stumbling at a sharp turn, nearly falling over as someone stepped on the heel of her shoe- they reached the stairwell, hurrying down to the landing-

The Judoon.

_Oh no._ The Doctor pulled her in front of him, in an attempt to avoid being caught (of course now would be the point in which he started to think she wasn't an alien) and the scanner beeped.

"Category: Unknown."

The Doctor froze. "_What?!_"

Martha, who Charlie thought probably didn't understand the complexity of the situation, grabbed both their hands and pulled. Hard. "Come on!"

They ran down another hallway- she didn't dare look back, knowing that thing was getting closer and closer. Another sharp turn- her shoulder slammed hard against the wall but she kept going, knowing that whatever the leather _thing_ was going to do to her would be collectively worse than bumping into a wall. They started down another hallway- this one cluttered with medical supplies, and she nearly tripped but the Doctor grabbed her hand, pulling her forward and through a door. Yet _another_ hallway, thinner than the rest, led down to a room. "Radiology Lab", the plaque on the wall said. She was shoved inside and heard the door slam behind them, as the Doctor used his sonic to lock it.

"I don't think the door is going to hold it," Charlie said, wincing as the creature launched itself against the wood with a crash.

"Doesn't matter," he replied, turning his sonic screwdriver on some sort of x-ray equiptment and aiming it towards the door. "Get behind there-" he pointed to the radiation screen- "And when I say 'now', press the button!"

There was another bang as the leather... whatever it was crashed against the door. The metal hinges were actually bending, which meant whatever wanted to get to them was inhumanly strong.

Charlie ducked behind the screen with Martha. "Which button?" She asked, staring blankly at the control panel- it's not as if she'd ever used an x-ray machine before.

Martha scanned the shelves, pulling off a thick binder that read "Owner's Manual", and started leafing through it as fast as she could. The creature slammed against the wooden door one last time, and the hinges gave out, the door falling to the ground.

"Now!"

Charlie glanced around the panel again- there! One button, bigger than the others. Without thinking twice, she clenched her eyes shut and slammed it down. She could hear buzzing, and the sound a body makes when it falls to the floor (how she knew what that sounded like really wasn't important at the time) and she opened one eye.

The leather creature was on the ground, and the Doctor stepped out from behind the x-ray machine.

"What did you do?" Martha asked, breathless- being chased by a leather killing machine tends to do that to anyone who's lives are usually normal, Charlie realized.

"Increased the radiation by five-thousand percent. Killed him dead."

"And you're not dead because...?" Charlie asked, stepping cautiously out from behind the screen.

"It's only roentgen radiation. We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery." He glanced at Martha, who still stood behind the radiation screen. "It's safe for you to come out. I've absorbed it all. All I need to do is expel it." Charlie raised an eyebrow as he started shifting from foot to foot, then jumping. Made it a teensy bit difficult to take him seriously, and she giggled.

"Hey now," the Doctor frowned, "This is a very serious procedure. If I concentrate I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot." He grimaced, and started to shake his foot. It was strange, to say the least. "It's in my left shoe. Here we go, here we go. Easy does it. Out, out, out- ow, ow, ow, ow- Ah, ah, ah, ah! Itches, itches, itches- ow- ah, hold on." He tugged the shoe off his foot and dumped it in the radiation waste bin, slamming the lid. "Done."

"You're completely mad," Martha said, in that voice that people use when they really have no clue how to respond to a situation. It's a strange sort of thing, but Charlie figured she'd better get used to it if she was going to make a habit of spending time around the Doctor.

"You're right," He agreed. "I look daft in one shoe." He promptly took the other one off, and chucked it in the bin as well. "Barefoot on the moon."

Martha looked at him like he was some sort of alien (he was some sort of alien, but Charlie couldn't figure out why it was taking Martha so long to realize that). "So what is that thing?" She said, looking down at the leather creature that was very obviously not alive. "And where's it from, the planet Zovirax?"

"Oh, I know this one," Charlie said, not making any effort to hide her smile. She could tell why the Doctor enjoyed taking humans along as companions, it was fun explaining things like this. Even if you had to do it more than once. "It's a slab. Sort of like... a slave thingy."

The Doctor gave her an odd glance. "Solid leather, all the way through," He added, nudging the body with his toe. "Someone's got a hell of a fetish."

Charlie blinked, her face completely blank as she turned to look at him. "I really, _really_ don't think you needed to say that."

"Alright, maybe not. But how did you know it was a slab? And what exactly are you? You know what-" He waved her off as she started to answer. "When this is over, you and I are going to have a chat, and you can tell me, alright?"

"But it was that woman," Martha tapped the Doctor on the shoulder to get his attention. "Miss Finnegan. It was working for her, just like a servant."

"My sonic screwdriver." He looked past Martha at the x-ray equiptment- his sonic screwdriver stuck out of the side of the machine, burnt and twisted beyond repair.

"She was one of the patients, but-"

"Oh, no- my sonic screwdriver," He ran towards the machine and tugged out the screwdriver, which was still smoking a little. Charlie shook her head- he looked like someone had run over his puppy.

"She had a straw like some kind of vampire-"

"I loved my sonic screwdriver."

"Doctor?" Martha snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Sorry!" The Doctor winced, and tossed away the twisted lump of metal. "You called me Doctor." Just as easily as before, his mood changed, and a wide smile spread across his face.

"Yes, yes, she did," Charlie said impatiently. "Doesn't really matter right now, does it?"

"Probably not."

"Anyway- Miss Finnegan is the alien," Martha said, and Charlie could almost feel the annoyance rolling off her in waves. She didn't blame her one bit, either- the Doctor really did have the worst attention span. "She was drinking Mister Stoker's blood!"

"Funny time to take a snack. You'd think she'd be hiding," The Doctor mused. "Unless- No. Yes, that's it- wait a minute. Yes! Shape-changer. _Internal_ shape changer. She wasn't drinking Mr. Stoker's blood, she was assimilating it! If she can assimilate Mister Stoker's blood, mimic the biology, she'll register as human. We've got to find her and show the Judoon. Come on!"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Yeah, changed a bit in the previous chapter: The Judoon scanner classified Charlie as unknown. She gets classified in this episode though. Also, gave her some of the important bits like distracting the Judoon because I just don't like Martha that much. Sue me.

The leather slab walked down the hallway, scanning the room through it's helmet. Convinced everything was clear, it moved on; walking right past the water cooler that the Doctor, Martha and Charlie were crouched behind.

"That's the thing about slabs," the Doctor murmured, as the sound of footsteps started to fade, "They always travel in pairs."

"What about you?" Martha whispered.

"What about me, what?"

"Haven't you got back-up? You must have a partner or something?"

"Oh. Humans. We're stuck on the moon running out of air with Judoon and a bloodsucking criminal, you're asking personal questions? Come on."

"I like that. Humans. I'm still not convinced you're an alien," she scoffed, as he started to move out from behind the water cooler.

Silent up until then, Charlie suddenly realized what was going to happen- definitely something not-good. She remembered the Judoon, knew that they'd be right around the bend. Left with no other choices, she reached out and grabbed the Doctor's wrist tightly, trying to pull him back.

And then she couldn't, because something was very, _very_ wrong- her stomach hurt, right in the center, like a giant bruise. It wasn't that painful, more startling than anything else. She let go of his wrist, and as soon as she did, the pain was gone.

He stepped out from behind the water cooler.

The Judoon raised the scanner. It beeped.

"Non-human."

"Oh my God, you really are," Martha whispered.

"And again," The Doctor rolled his eyes, and the three of them started running, barely avoiding the laser-beams shot by the Judoon as they ducked around the corner and started up the stairs. All around them people were on the ground- the hospital was running out of air.

The Doctor ducked behind a door, urging Martha and Charlie inside before shutting and locking it.

"They've done this floor. Come on," He headed off down the narrow hallway, "The Judoon are logical and just a little bit thick. They won't go back to check a floor they've checked already- If we're lucky."

"How much oxygen is there?" Martha asked the not-so-memoriable-doctor, kneeling down beside her. She had a patient hooked up to an oxygen tank and wasn't a sobbing mess on the floor- a slight improvement.

"Not enough for all these people," she answered shakily, "We're going to run out."

At that, the Doctor seemed to finally realize that he was with two humans, who need air to live, and turned to Martha and Charlie with a frown. "How are you two feeling? Are you all right?"

"I'm running on adrenaline," Martha answered.

"And I've got... maybe... ten, fifteen minutes of oxygen reserves." Charlie added. For once, she was glad that she didn't come from this universe's Earth- these humans could probably only survive a few minutes with low oxygen levels. It was kind of sad.

"Reserves?"

"Yeah."

"We _really _do need to have that chat."

"What about the Judoon?" Martha asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, they've got _giant_ lung reserves- a half-hour, maybe more. It won't slow them down. Where's Mister Stoker's office?"

Martha stood back up again, shooting her colleague an apologetic glance. "It's this way," She said, leading the Doctor and Charlie around the corner.

The office was empty, except for the body. Frankly, Charlie had seen that coming from a mile away- even without her multi-universal database of a brain. It was only logical not to stay in the same place once you've been discovered. Apparently, Martha hadn't forseen it, as she stepped into the room and immediately exclaimed that "She _was_ here!". Well of course, she _was_, the drained dead body was a pretty obvious clue.

Said dead body was tinted blue- "Drained him dry... Every last drop," The Doctor commented as he knelt down to examine it. "I was right, she is a plasmavore."

"She's an outer-space alien vampire with a straw," Charlie snickered. Martha shot her an icy glare.

"I can't believe you- someone's dead, and you're _laughing?_"

"Right- erm, sorry. So what's a space vampire-"

"Plasmavore," The Doctor corrected, standing up from where he was kneeling beside the body, and starting to pace. Never a good sign, usually meant that something bad was going to happen, and soon.

"I know what it's called. Saying "space vampire" makes it less terrifying. But either way, what's it doing on Earth?"

"Hiding," He answered, with that faraway, thoughtful look in his eye. "On the run. Like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro."

Charlie bit back a laugh, but a small sound escaped her, and Martha once again gave her the death glare. Maybe she had something against jokes. Whatever it was, it was getting mildly annoying.

"But... What's she doing now? She's still not safe. The Judoon could execute us all. Come on," the Doctor motioned for Charlie and Martha to follow.

"Wait a minute..." Martha knel down next to the corpse of Mr. Stoker, and gently shut his eyes before following him out the door.

* * *

><p>"Think, think, think. If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?"<p>

"Turn yourself in?" Charlie said hopefully.

"No... Definitely not," The Doctor stopped in the middle of the hallway. "MRI."

"What?"

"She'd be in the MRI. She's as clever as me." He paused for a moment. "Well, almost."

Screams sounded from the end of the hallway as the Judoon burst through the door.

"Find the non-human. Execute."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair (which honestly did next to nothing to fix the fact that it stuck up in all directions).

"You two, stay here. I need time. Charlie, I hate to ask, really, _really _hate to ask, but can you...?

"I don't really want to-"

"Please, please- It could save a million lives," he begged, and Charlie's shoulders slumped. She groaned inwardly- given a choice between being scanned by the Judoon and having to watch the Doctor snog Martha's face off, she'd gladly choose the latter.

"Oh, _fine_." She said, glaring half-heartedly at the Doctor as he started running down the hallway.

"What- what's she doing?" Martha asked.

"Making me uncomfortable, that's what," Charlie grumbled, as the Judoon stopped right in front of her and held up a little red scanner. It beeped.

"Unknown."

"Now listen- I know who you're looking for- it's a woman, her name is Florence-" Martha tried unsuccessfully to reason with the great big lump who was currently trapping Charlie against the wall and demanding to know what she was.

_The Doctor wasn't kidding when he said they were thick_, Charlie thought to herself, as the thing kept demanding to know what she was, again and again. Her nose wrinkled up in distaste because frankly, they smelled, too. And whatever they smelled like, wasn't exactly sunshine and daisies.

"Authorize full scan," The Judoon said.

The scanning... thing... whatever it was, was shoved in her face, only a few centimeters from the bridge of her nose. Charlie went cross-eyed trying to look at it as it blinked once... twice... three times...

Nothing happened.

Again with the blinking. Three times, then a pause. Finally, at the thirteenth or fourteenth time, it beeped.

"Category: Human. Category: Ultraterrestrial."

The Judoon backed off.

"Finally," Charlie huffed, brushing off her denim jacket and following the Judoon through the hallway, and towards the MRI station.

"No, he can't be," Charlie could hear Martha's voice coming faintly from down the hall, and she started running towards it. "Let me through. Let me see him!"

She burst through the door, nearly running face-first into a living wall of Judoon. For some reason, she doubted they'd even feel it. The Doctor lay on the floor, clearly dead, the space-vampire (she still wouldn't call it a plasmavore, too scary a name) was standing against the radiation screen, a pompous sort of smirk on her face that reminded Charlie of posh, snobbish ladies with fancy purses.

"Stop. Case closed." The Judoon said, blocking Martha from pushing through to the Doctor's side.

"But it was her," She said desperately, pointing at the space-vampire, "She killed him. She did it. She murdered him!"

"I'd murder people too, with a name like Florence," Charlie announced with a crooked smile. It helped, a lot, knowing what was going to happen- that way she could get in all the last-minute digs before time ran out. At least this time, Martha was too busy for a death glare.

"Judoon have no authority over human crime."

"But she's not human," Martha protested.

"Oh, but I am. I've been catalogued," Florence the Pompous Outer-Space Vampire said smugly, in a way that really made Charlie want to punch her in the face.

"But she's not! She assimi- Wait a minute. You drank his blood? The Doctor's blood?" Martha grabbed a scanner from the Judoon's belt, and pointed it at her.

"Oh, I don't mind. Scan all you like."

The light blinked once, twice, three times, and the scanner beeped.

"Non-human."

"But, what?" There it was, the fight-or-flight sort of craziness starting to cloud her vision. Charlie cheered internally- one Doctor, zero space vampire.

"Confirm analysis." The Judoon pulled out another scanner- same result.

"Oh, but it's a mistake, surely. I'm human. I'm as human as they come," Florence said, but her voice was a little too strained, a little too desperate to be really believable.

"He gave his life so they'd find you," Martha murmured.

"Confirm. Plasmavore, charged with the crime of murdering the child princess of Patrival Regency Nine."

The plasmavore glanced around, realizing she had no chance at survival."Well, she deserved it! Those pink cheeks and those blonde curls and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore."

"Then you confess?" The Judoon asked.

"Confess?" She sneered, "I'm proud of it! Slab, stop them!"

The other leather creature started towards the Judoon, only making it a few steps before a red-hot laser burned straight through the center of it's chest, reducing the slab to a pile of ash in a matter of seconds.

"Verdict, guilty. Sentence, execution," the Judoon said.

Florence ducked behind the radiation screen, plugging in the MRI scanner with a smile that was all teeth. "Enjoy your victory, Judoon, because you're going to burn with me. Burn in hell!" She let out a manic scream as the laser gun burned through the radiation screen and hit her square in the chest. Charlie looked away, wrinkling her nose at the smell of burning flesh.

"Case closed." The Judoon lowered the gun- all that remained of the plasmavore was a mound of smoking carbon.

Martha knelt down next to the unmoving form of the Doctor and shook him gently, glancing back up at the Judoon.  
>"But what did she mean, burn with me? The scanner shouldn't be doing that. She's done something."<br>The Judoon lumbered over to the MRI scanner, flashing it's own scanner tool over the machinery as it crackled with blue-white electricity.  
>"Scans detect lethal acceleration of monomagnetic pulse."<p>

"Well, do something! Stop it!"

"Martha," Charlie said, laying a hand on her shoulder, "They won't. Don't bother."

"Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate."

"What? You can't just leave it- What's it going to do?"

"All units withdraw," The Judoon said as he (or she, or it, one simply couldn't tell) flicked a button on the scanner, the command echoing around the building.

As one, the troops turned and began a rhythmic march out the door.

"For police, they're not very helpful," Charlie grumbled, kneeling down next to the Doctor as Martha ran out after them. Her voice echoed through the corridor seconds later- "You can't leave! That thing's going to explode and it's your fault!"

"Martha! You're a doctor, get over here, before the oxygen runs out!"

Martha stumbled back through the doorway, dropping to her knees beside the doctor and starting CPR.

"One-" she pushed down on his chest, right above his heart- "Two-" again, "Three-" again, "Four... no, no, no- I can't, there's not enough air," Martha gasped.

"Martha? Martha!" Charlie yelled as she slumped to the floor.

"But- why isn't there any air? There was air last time, you did it once you can do it again, come on," She said, grabbing Martha's shoulders and shaking her.

She didn't get up.

She couldn't.

And then, Charlie realized why- because of her. With one more person breathing in the oxygen, it ran out faster. If she hadn't been there, Martha would have had enough oxygen.

"Oh, no, no, no- now I'm the thick one," She groaned, smacking her forehead with her palm. "I have no idea what I'm doing. Everyone's going to die. Do I have to do this? I do. I really don't- I'm arguing with myself when I should be acting. Oh, _fine._"

She knelt down beside Martha, looked at her as her eyes started to drift shut. "I'm really, really, _really_ sorry about this, but I might just be saving your life." Charlie pinched her nose shut, and pressed her mouth to Martha's, giving her all the oxygen she had left, and wishing she'd bothered learning how to perform CPR.

Martha coughed, and sat up, disoriented, as Charlie wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and made a face. "Alright. Let's just both promise to never speak of that again." She pointed to the Doctor. "Do your fancy stuff and fix him."

Martha nodded and crawled over to him. Faintly, Charlie could hear her counting as she started doing chest compressions.

"Oh, I feel lousy," She mumbled, lying back down against the cool tile floor as the room started to spin. "How do you even manage like this?"

"Something's gone wrong with the MRI," Martha told him, and he nodded, struggling back up to his feet. "And I think Charlie's passed out. She gave me the rest of her oxygen."

"Alright," He said through a fit of coughing, stumbling over to the panel and pulling the plug. The crackling of electricity started to fade, and Charlie let out a sigh of relief before her vision faded.

* * *

><p>The Doctor glanced at Charlie, who lay asleep on the couch in the TARDIS, before turning back to the nearly-finished sonic screwdriver in his hand. Just a few more tweaks, maybe a bit of polishing, and it'd be like the old one had never gotten fried in an X-ray machine. He sighed, even thinking about it was sad.<p>

"What're you doing?" Charlie rasped from behind him.

"A new sonic screwdriver," He answered, focusing intently on adding the last piece to his project. "There. Finished."

There was a cough, and the rustling of blankets, and when the Doctor turned around, Charlie was sitting up on the couch. He tucked the sonic screwdriver away in his coat, and sat next to her on the couch.

"It's time we had a chat."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello, back again with another chapter! Tell me what you think, and pretty please, some constructive criticism about my OC. Is she a total Mary Sue, bordering Mary Sue, or good? Any tips you have, or ideas for the plotline? Questions? Flames? Actually, forget that last bit. I don't really want flames.

So in this chapter, I did a little bit of trickery- you'll see a part where it looks like she's turning Mary Sue, and I promise, it's probably the opposite of whatever you're thinking. Just stick with me. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"I'm just going to ask once, just once and I want an honest answer- what are you?"<p>

"I'm human," Charlie answered steadily.

"Wh- Really?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow, pulling out his new sonic screwdriver and scanning her. "You're sure?" Of course, she might've been lying, and the Doctor was fully aware of that. But, he always liked to give people a chance, and there wasn't anything wrong with that. Well, there was, but that wasn't the point.

Charlie rolled her eyes and batted his sonic screwdriver away with a frown. "What do you mean, 'really'?"

He shrugged, looking away from her. "Well, I thought you were- I mean, it was just a guess, because you seeemed like- oh, nevermind, I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Just... nonsense."

"If you say so."

He stood up again, pacing around the room. The silence was stifling and more than a little awkward. He'd thought that maybe Charlie was, maybe, half Time-Lord, because that would explain a lot of things- psychic paper, the lung reserves, her knowledge of the Judoon. Maybe the Doctor was seeing clues where there weren't any, but it never hurt to check. "You don't happen to have a- um, a watch? An old pocketwatch, with strange carvings on it?"

Charlie laughed, and shook her head. "I have a little flip makeup mirror thingy, but no pocketwatch. Sorry."

"Makeup mirror? Can I see it?" He asked, walking back to the couch.

"Why?"

"I just want to see it, just for a minute." He said, holding out his hand for the mirror.

"And I want to know why." She retorted. Idly, the Doctor wondered if all humans were stubborn in the 21st century, or if it was just the ones he'd been lucky enough to pick up.

"I have a theory," he said, a teeny bit childishly. Alright, maybe not a theory- a hope. Maybe, just maybe she had a makeup mirror instead of a watch. It was a stretch, but he was desperate.

"About my makeup mirror?"

"Yes, about your makeup mirror! Just let me see it!"

"Alright, alright, here." She fished around in the pocket of her denim jacket, and pulled out a circular box-like thing. It didn't look much like a mirror. He took it, hesitantly, and flipped it open.

Oh, there was the mirror.

"See? Nothing weird about it," she laughed, grabbing the mirror and shoving it back in the pocket of her jacket.

"I was wrong, then." He made a face, and turned back to the TARDIS control panel. "Oh, I hate being wrong. Let's just pretend that never happened."

"Sure," She yawned. "Wow, I'm really tired, all of a sudden."

"Saving the world can be exhausting," the Doctor said with a faint smile.

The silence was back again, louder and more pressing than ever, almost a physical, tangible presence that hung heavy in the air. For once, the Doctor had no desire to disturb the quiet, rather focused on wallowing in his own disappointment and hating the girl on his couch for getting his hopes up. (Of course the rational part of his brain knew it wasn't her fault, and that she couldn't possibly know what Time Lords were, anyway. She was just a human girl.)

"Where are you from?" He said finally, spinning back around to study her again.

"Someplace far away."

"Try me, I've been pretty far."

"Not anywhere you've ever been. I can't go back, anyway." She shrugged casually, but there was an undertone of sadness that he doubted even she picked up on.

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure, yeah."

"Alright." He started up the TARDIS. "Let's pay Martha a visit, and I'll take you back to London."

* * *

><p>"I am not staying in there to be insulted!"<p>

"She didn't mean it, sweetheart. She was just saying you look healthy."

Martha rolled her eyes, following her mum out of the club. She'd expected this to happen, what with her parents giving eachother rude looks throughout the party- but she had hoped that they'd be able to be civil for one night.

Or not.

"No, I did not. I said orange."

"Clive, that woman is disrespecting me," Annalise complained in that horribly nasal voice of hers, "She's never liked me."

"Oh, I can't think why, after you stole my husband," her mum shot back.

"I was seduced. I'm entirely innocent. Tell her, babe."

Martha winced- there really wasn't any reason to bring her dad into this, it'd only make it worse.

"And then she has a go at Martha, practically accused her of making the whole thing up."

"Mum, I don't mind," Martha said- it was a little late to just smooth things over, but she had to try anyways. "Just leave it."

"Oh, 'I've been to the moon'! As if. They were drugged. It said so on the news."

"Since when did you watch the news? You can't handle Quiz Mania."

"Annalise started it," Tish added. "She did. I heard her."

"Tish, don't make it worse." Leo said.

"Oh, come off it, Leo. What did she buy you? Soap. A seventy five pence soap."

"Oh, I'm never talking to your family again!" Annalise spun around and started walking off, looking much like an overdressed child throwing a temper tantrum.

"At least that's over," Tish said softly. "10 quid she doesn't come back."

"Deal," Leo agreed.

"Really?" Martha said, trying to look stern, but the smile that flashed across her face sort of ruined the act. "I'm with Tish, she's not coming back."

"We've got to get them back under control," Leo sighed. "I'll get Dad, Tish and Martha can handle Mum. I don't want her yelling at me again, I swear I still can't hear well out of my left ear from last time." He started after his father, "Dad, wait!"

"Mum," Tish called out, walking as fast as she could manage in high heels towards her. "Mum, don't! I asked the DJ, and he's playing that song later..."

Martha sighed, as the babble of voices disappeared down the street. She didn't really want to go after them, not this time. Picking sides was never something she wanted to do, it only made things worse. Still, she probably should follow them... just to make sure no one did anything rash. No one wanted a repeat of last year.

As she started to walk, she noticed a man in the shadows of the alley. A very familiar man, in fact- in a sharp suit and tan trenchcoat. The Doctor smiled at her, and Martha smiled back, following him as he turned and headed around the bend.

"I went to the moon today," Martha said, when she finally caught up to him at the end of the alley, leaning against a blue police box. The other girl was there, too- Charlie- wrapped in a small blue blanket.

"Bit more peaceful than down here," He said with a smile, as a siren wailed in the distance.

"You never even told me who you are."

"The Doctor."

"What sort of species?" She smiled. "It's not every day I get to ask that."

"I'm a Time Lord."

"Right!" Martha said, with an exaggerated nod. "Not pompous at all, then."

Charlie snickered in the background, and Martha smiled at her. Given, she was a little... strange, but maybe she needed a friend. Or, maybe she was just a weird person, who knew. But there was only one way to find out.

"Oi," the Doctor shot Charlie an indignant frown, and turned back to Martha. The whole too-cool relaxed attitude didn't really work as well the second time, and she smiled.

"I just thought since you saved my life," He continued, pulling out his sonic screwdriver from his suit pocket and tossing it around in a way that was just a little too nonchalant to be natural, "And I've got a brand new sonic screwdriver which needs road testing, you might fancy a trip."

"What, into space?"

"Well." Yep, definitely not natural. Was he trying to impress her, or something? _He's already saved the Earth, there isn't much impressing left to do_, she thought.

"But I can't. I've got exams. I've got things to do. I have to go into town first thing and pay the rent, I've got my family going mad."

"If it helps, I can travel in time as well," he said idly.

"Get out of here."

"I can."

"Come on now, that's going too far."

"I'll prove it." He pushed open the door to the police box, and slipped inside. A few seconds later, it started to disappear with a loud noise that was really hard to describe. Sort of like an alarm.

Charlie, who he'd left behind, awkwardly stared at the ground for a moment. "Hey, uh- I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable before, and I, uh... I'm not sure where I was going with this," She stumbled over her words, an embarrassed blush on her face.

Martha smiled and waved her off, still half-focused on the space where the police box used to be. "It's fine. You saved my life. It feels awkward, I know- I've been on your end a lot. Med student."

"Okay. That's um, good." She gave a sigh of relief, just as the box started to materialize again.

"Told you," the Doctor said with a grin as he stepped out of the police box, holding his tie in his hand. Just like... Just like on Chancellor Street.

"No way," Martha said, her focus now completely on the Doctor again, the whole ordeal with Charlie forgotten for the moment. "But that.. But that was this morning! Did you...? Oh, my God. You can travel in time." Her smile faded for a second. "But hold on. If you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go in to work?"

"Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden," he smiled. "Except for cheap tricks."

"And that's your spaceship?"

The Doctor turned to the box and patted it, almost lovingly. (It was strange, to say the least.)"It's called the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

"Your spaceship's made of wood," She said, reaching out to touch the surface. "And there's not much room. We'd be a bit intimate." Not that she minded, of course- he was, after all, a "Time Lord". And pretty handsome, too. Not to mention the whole "saving the world" bit.

"Take a look." he pushed open the door, the hinges squeaking in protest.

She stepped into the room, her mouth forming a perfect 'o' as she stared in awe at everything- the arched ceiling, the crazy crisscrossed pattern of support beams, the circular yellow lights embedded in the scratched-up metal walls.

It looked old- worn, even. But still, amazingly impressive.

Martha shook her head, stumbling back outside the doorframe and nearly knocking Charlie over in the process.

"No, no, no, no... But it's just a box. It's huge," She mumbled, walking around the outside- just a box, just a little square box.

"How does it do that?" She asked, running back inside. "It's wood. It's like a box with that room just rammed in. It's bigger on the inside!"

"Is it?" The Doctor asked, pressing the door shut. "Oh, I hadn't noticed. Let's get going."

"But is there a crew, like a navigator and stuff? Where is everyone?"

"Just me."

"But... what about her?" She pointed at Charlie, who was lying back on the couch, her eyes closed. Hearing her name, she opened one eye.

"He's taking me back to London. Or something."

"But... why?"

"Dunno. I don't think he likes me," She whispered loudly, the beginnings of a smile on her face, despite the blearyness to her eyes. Frankly, she looked a little sickly.

"Hey now, that's not true," the Doctor said with a frown.

"Well of course it isn't, we hardly even know each other." Charlie yawned, snuggling back into the sofa. "Now hush, I'm exhausted."

"But... she saved your life." Martha whispered with a frown.

"No, you did."

"No- She gave me her air so that I could save you, and you're just going to dump her in the streets?!"

"Oh... _Fine_," the Doctor sighed. "But one trip, and one trip only."

"Is this what you do, travel around and save the day?" Martha asked finally, after a period of somewhat irritated silence.

"Yeah."

"All on your own?"

He shrugged. There it was again, the nonchalance that was a little too forced to be natural. "Well, sometimes I have guests. I mean some friends, travelling alongside. I had." He looked distant. Sort of sad. "There was recently, a friend of mine. Rose, her name was. Rose. And we were together. Anyway."

"Where is she now?"

"With her family. Happy. She's fine. She's-" he frowned. "Not that you're replacing her."

"Never said I was."

"Just one trip to say thanks. You get one trip, then back home. I'd rather be on my own."

"Yeah, well, you're the one that invited me," Martha said with a smile, strolling around to where he was standing on one side of the control panel. "And if you will wear a tight suit..."

"Now, don't," he said sternly.

"And then travel all the way across the universe just to ask me on a date..."

"Stop it."

"Both of you, stop it," Charlie's muffled voice sounded from the lump of blankets on the couch. "Or at least be quiet about it."

Martha winced, before shaking her head and continuing softly, "For the record? I'm not remotely interested. I only go for humans."

The Doctor relaxed almost instantly. _He must really still be hung up about that girl- what was it, Rose? _Martha thought.

"Well, then. Close down the gravitic anomaliser," He pulled a lever, then another switch, "fire up the helmic regulator. And finally," He pressed down one last lever, " he hand brake. Ready?"

"No," Martha said with a smile.

"Off we go." He flipped the final switch, and the whole room jolted.

"Ow," Charlie mumbled- Martha glanced at her, a giant cocoon of blankets with her face poking out, that had fallen onto the floor.

"Oh... erm, sorry." The Doctor said with a wince, as the room shook again.

Charlie stood up, looking very much like a human burrito, and frowned at him.

"But anyway, welcome aboard!" He yelled over the engines, extending a hand to Martha.

"A pleasure," She smiled, and shook it.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hello again! Sorry about the wait, I'm working on a few other pieces right now, on top of this one. This chapter's a little short and pretty basic (unfortunately :c) But it will get a little better as time goes on. As always, tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>"But <em>how<em> does it travel in time? What makes it go?" Martha asked as she clutched the edge of the control panel for dear life.

Charlie smiled briefly when the Doctor rolled his eyes, "Oh, let's take the fun and the mystery out of everything. Martha, you don't want to know."

"Blimey. Do you have to pass a test to fly this thing?" Martha yelled over the noise of the engine.

"Yes, and I failed it," the Doctor said, yanking down the brake and regaining his balance. "Now, make the most of it. I promised you one trip, and one trip only. Outside this door, brave new world."

"Where are we?"

"Take a look," he opened the door, "After you. Charlie, are you coming?"

"Fine, yes, fine, gimme a minute," the bundle of blankets mumbled as the two headed out the door without her.

Charlie sighed when the door closed, and glanced around the TARDIS again, standing up and unraveling herself from the blankets. She walked over to the control panel in the center of the room, and studied it for a minute- looking at the stains from god-knows-what, the scratch marks, the chipped paint. The TARDIS was lived-in, it was real. It was terrifying, because she wasn't quite sure if she knew the difference between reality and fantasy anymore- the lines had merged and blurred into one big sloppy mess, and she didn't like it one bit.

With a shake of her head, determined to stop thinking those bothersome thoughts, Charlie grabbed her too-big denim jacket off of the rail and shrugged it on, leaving the strange familiarity of the TARDIS for the world that lay outside.

* * *

><p>"But can we move?" She heard Martha asking, as the door shut with a squeaking of the hinges.<p>

"Of course we can. Why do you ask?" The Doctor replied, offering Charlie a smile that only half reached his eyes. She sighed, and wrapped the denim jacket tighter around her body.

"It's like in the films," Martha continued, oblivious to what was going on between them, more focused on taking in her surroundings.. She couldn't be blamed, though- not everyone is used to traveling in time. "You step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race."

"Tell you what then, don't step on any butterflies." The Doctor looked back at her with a frown. "What have butterflies ever done to you?"

"What if, I don't know, what if I kill my grandfather?" She asked, following after him as he strode purposefully through the city.

Charlie rolled her eyes and followed after them, content to be silent. After all, what could she say? '_Hello, I come from another dimension and I know lots of weird things about your entire life.'_ Yeah, that'd go over well.

"Are you planning to kill your grandfather?"

"No," Martha replied, her eyes wide. "Of course not."

"Well, then."

"And this is London?"

"I think so," he looked around. "Round about... oh... 1599."

Charlie sidestepped a man hurrying by with a bag of... something, and ran a few steps to catch up with the pair. Standing behind them like this, made her feel like a third wheel. Just a little. It was annoying, and mildly refreshing at the same time- she wasn't used to not being the center of attention.

"Oh, but hold on. Am I all right? I'm not going to get carted off as a slave, am I?" Martha asked.

"Why would they do that?"

"Not exactly white, in case you haven't noticed."

"I'm not even human," he shrugged, "Just walk about like you own the place. Works for me. Besides, you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time." He pointed to a man shoveling manure, "Look over there. They've got recycling, and water cooler movement," He added as they passed by a pair conversing over a water barrel. "And even global warming!" he finished, gesturing towards a preacher speaking about the world being consumed by flame.

_I suppose they're not so different in ideas,_ Charlie mused, because there really wasn't anything to do as a third wheel except muse to herself. _But people in their future smell a lot better._

"Oh, yes, and entertainment. Popular entertainment for the masses. If I'm right, we're just down the river by Southwark, right next to..."  
>He took off running, grabbing Martha's hand and dragging her along, leaving Charlie to run off after them. <em>That makes it offical. I should get a badge.<em> she thought to herself. _Grand._

"Oh, yes, the Globe Theatre!" He announced with a grin as they rounded the bend. "Brand new. Just opened. Through, strictly speaking, it's not a globe, it's a tetradecagon. Fourteen sides. Containing the man himself."

"Shakespeare? We're going to meet Shakespeare?" Charlie asked, narrowly avoiding bumping into the Doctor as she caught up to them.

"Oh, yes we are! When you get back you can tell everyone you've met him!"

"Then, I could get sectioned!" Martha said with false enthusiasm, as they set off towards the Globe Theatre.

* * *

><p>The theatre was packed. At least, in the areas where the poor would watch the play, it was packed. The upper seats were peppered with the forms of various aristocrats, left with plenty of space and room to breathe. Down in the lower levels, it was a different case- bodies were jammed right next to eachother like sardines, everyone fighting for room and talking over each other. And frankly, it smelled.<p>

Up on the stage, the actors took their bows, and were met with thunderous applause from the close-packed audience- a rising crescendo of cheers and whoops and whistles that nearly drowned out all conversation, echoing off the walls of the globe and growing louder by the minute.

"That's amazing! Just amazing," Martha yelled above the noise, clapping enthusiastically. "It's worth putting up with the smell. And those are men dressed as women, yeah?" She pointed to a selection of actors, and the Doctor nodded in confirmation.

"London never changes," he said with a smile.

"Alright, that's all well and good, but I really, really, _really_ wanna see Shakespeare," Charlie said, wringing her hands and glancing around the stage with a furrow in her brow. "C'mon, where is he?"

"You're a fan?" The Doctor asked, glancing down at her in surprise."

"No, I just play one on TV," She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm a fan, he's one of the most brilliant writers ever, his plays are fantastic. They read a bit clunky in the modern minimalist age, though," She mused. "But that doesn't matter. I want to see Shakespeare!"

Beside her, Martha raised her fist and started chanting, "Author, Author!" The Doctor shot her a look, and she smiled sheepishly. "Do people shout that? Do they shout 'Author'?"

As she spoke, one of the men behind them picked up the chant, and it spread throughout the theatre like wildfire. Or, like people doing the wave at a football stadium. Except louder, and smellier.

"Well, they do now," The Doctor said.

Charlie wasn't paying attention, having joined the crowd in chanting 'Author' and pumping her fist in the air.

A man strode out to cheers from the crowd- definitely not what she'd expected him to look like- younger, with shoulder-length brown hair and a short beard, steely blue eyes that sparkled with mischief and so much life- things that no portrait had ever captured. Looking back on how she saw him, there really was no denying she was a fan.

"He's a bit different from his portraits," Martha said over the applause.

"He's a bit cute. A lot cute. Well, you know, as far as men from the 16th century go," Charlie replied with a grin.

"You think he's cute?" Martha gave him a quick once-over and shrugged. "Yeah, actually. He's pretty good-looking."

"Hey," the Doctor scolded, nudging each of them in turn with his shoulder. "We didn't come all the way out here for you two to check out Shakespeare."

"Really?" Charlie asked innocently, elbowing him in the ribs. "Come on, you've gotta admit, he's handsome. Just a little?"

"Yes, fine- but he's also a genius. _The_ genius. The most human human there's ever been," He said, his face lighting up. "Now we're going to hear him speak. Always, he chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words-"

"Ah, shut your big fat mouths!" Shakespeare called from atop the stage, and the crowd greeted him with raucous laughter. Beside her, Charlie could almost see the Doctor deflate.

"Oh, well," he mumbled.

"You should never meet your heroes," Martha said with a smile, as Shakespeare gestured for the crowd to quiet.

"You've got excellent taste, I'll give you that," he teased, in a rich, carrying voice that effortlessly reached all corners of the theatre with a practiced efficiency- he'd done this before, countless times. "Oh, that's a wig," He smiled, gesturing to a man who's hairdo had become lopsided in the crowd. "I know what you're all saying. Loves Labour's Lost, that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops. Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon." The crowd broke into cheers again, along with scattered demands of 'When?'. "Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius." He bowed, with a cheeky smile.

"Bit of a narcissist," Charlie commented.

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed, making a face. "Well, maybe he's better when he's not performing."

On stage, Shakespeare jolted upwards, like he'd been shocked, the cocky grin wiped clean off his face, and a dazed sort of look in his eyes. "When? Tomorrow night. The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it... Loves Labour's Won!"

"What was with that? He looks like he's been drugged, or something," Charlie said.

"Mhm," the Doctor frowned. "I don't know."

* * *

><p>The crowd slowly trickled out of the theatre and back into the open. It was dark, and Charlie stared up at the sky- she could see so many more stars without the harsh light of modern London- all neons and sharp whites. In this time, the light that leaked from the windows of buildings was a mellow, flickering orange. She smiled. A break from the modern world really wasn't that bad.<p>

"I'm not an expert, but I've never heard of Loves Labour's Won," She heard Martha say, and hurried to catch up with her and the Doctor.

"Exactly. The lost play. It doesn't exist, only in rumours. It's mentioned in lists of his plays but never ever turns up. And no one knows why." The Doctor shrugged.

"Have you got a mini-disc or something? We can tape it. We can flog it. Sell it when we get home and make a mint."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "No."

"That would be bad."

"Yeah, yeah."

"You guys are missing the point," Charlie cut in. "We could actually see the lost play if we stayed for a while." _Well, more than I've already seen._

"Well, I was just going to give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS, but I suppose we _could_ stay a bit longer."

"Oh, thank you so much," Charlie grinned. "This is gonna be brilliant."


End file.
